“One of the surest signs of the Philistine is his reverence for the superior tastes of those who put him down.” – Pauline Kael

Month: October 2013

There is no doubt Timecrimes is innovative and very cool indie sci-fi. A remake was planned but faltered, and that option has now moved to Steven Zaillian, so we’ll wait and see. I believe the first scene to be axed in the remake will be the entirely unnecessary, if not unpleasant, nudity. Honestly, it’s like Bárbara Goenaga’s breasts were just too perfect to keep covered up.

Anyway the movie shrinks down the landscape of the classic time travel perils and runs with it as the grumpy Hector tries to fix the alternate realities he creates after falling in some science goo. Expectedly this leads to a spiral of confusion and trouble for the small cast. Visually the film is great, using the bandaged character and scissors to give that simple horror genre feel, but goes further by doing so much with both. If you like lo-fi sci-fi watch this movie.

If there is ever an example of a movie that shouldn’t have been made it was Terminator Salvation. That said Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines held that spot until it’s depressingly uninspiring sequel. The argument is that of course the film should have been made, but just done better. I’m not so sure. The main problem with this movies is the Terminator, T-X. It’s just not as cool, or good, or scary as the Robert Patrick’s T-1000. Of course in the context of the franchise, this makes absolutely zero sense. Baffling.

And it’s also worth mentioning the moment where Arnie puts on the Elton John shades, I have to physically turn away from the screen at this moment. It’s good to not be precious, but at some point someone has to say, “That’s a really bad idea and seriously impacts one of the finest scenes in the previous picture.” That or something similar…

It’s not as rewarding as Conan The Barbarian or Conan The Destroyer, but Red Sonja is still cool. It’s bonkers yes, and the acting is dubious at best, yet these are just two of the many quirks that make the movie as leather strap and massive sword splendid as it is.

The Hunter is a good movie. It’s slow, but intriguing, with much craft inside the frame. Dafoe is excellent, when is he not and the whole premise of a mercenary hired to hunt the last Tasmanian tiger by a biotech company is executed better than one might expect. If you can handle the slow pacing it’s well worth getting involved.